Compacting press

ABSTRACT

A compacting press, in particular for waste paper in offices, has a small footprint and a high pressing density. The press ram is disposed in the vertical direction above a pressed part container. Disposed between a shaping chamber and the pressed part container is a closure slide which can move backwards and forwards in the horizontal direction to close the shaping chamber in the pressing position. The pressed part container is removably arranged on one side of the frame of the hydraulically driven compacting press and takes the form of a rolling container which can hold a plurality of pressed parts and is provided with rollers. The base surface of the container corresponds approximately to the footprint of the compacting press.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a compacting press for compacting papermaterial and, more particularly, a compacting press for office usehaving a small footprint and large storage capacity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Compacting presses in the form of briquette presses are known from DE-PS3 333 766 and DE-A 3 083 839. A precompression piston is here disposedahead of a press ram movable horizontally to and fro. The precompactionchamber, into which the precompaction piston extends, is fed by a feedermechanism, e.g., a feeder auger. The horizontal press ram compacts thematerial which has thus been slightly precompactcd into a followingmolding die of disc form, with a plurality of molding chambers. The rearend wall of the rotatable molding die is closed off by a fixedback-plate as a counter-pressure plate against which the horizontalpress ram compacts the pressing material. In this known apparatus abriquette compacted in a preceding press operation is ejected from thedisc-shaped molding die and then taken off by a stacking device, forexample to a conveyor belt.

On account of the horizontally arranged press ram, the known compactingpress has a large footprint, which is of little importance in industrialuse for compacting leaves or wood waste. For use as a compactingpressure for scrap paper or waste paper in a domestic or officeenvironment however, the footprint plays an important role, as does theability to provide space-saving interim storage of a large number ofpressed parts.

A compacting press of the kind defined is known from US-PS 3 651 755 anin similar form from U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,164. Furthermore, a compactingpress is described in WO 93/19930 which does not have any collectingcontainer for interim storage of the pressed parts. In addition, ahousehold press for cans or bottles is known from DE-U 76 36 727, whichhowever only effects destruction of the bottles or cans by means of apiston falling under its own weight but does not provide any permanentforming and compaction. All these apparatuses however have a largerdemand on footprint or a space-hungry construction in comparison withthe possible interim storage capacity.

Furthermore, presses have been disclosed in the further development ofpaper shredders or so-called file destroyers, which pass the paperthrough cutting rollers and then pass it without compaction into a bag,these presses compacting the strips of paper after the chopping in ahorizontal extrusion press and eject them sideways into a container.Although further compaction of the strips of paper is thus achieved, asignificant footprint is needed, since as well as the press apparatusapproximately 1.5 m long, a container is set up with a capacity ofaround half a cubic meter, so that the container does not have to beemptied too often.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention is based on the object of providing acompacting press which has a small footprint and thus facilitates themost compact dimensions with a high pressing density.

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a compacting press forcompacting material, especially scrap and waste paper, comprising, aframe having a footprint, a feed chute mounted on the frame forreceiving material to be pressed, a molding chamber mounted on theframe, and a feed device horizontally arranged on the frame fortransferring the material from the feed chute to the molding chamber. Apress ram arranged along a vertical axis compacts the material in themolding chamber. A container disposed within the footprint of the frameand below the molding chamber receives the pressed material, and aclosure slider arranged between the molding chamber and the container isreciprocal between a first position closing the molding chamber from thecontainer and a second position opening the molding chamber to thecontainer.

By arranging the press ram in the vertical direction above a pressedpart container for interim storage of the shaped pressed parts, a smallfootprint is obtained, which is determined essentially only by the areaof the container for the interim storage of the pressed parts. Thepressed part container takes up about a third of the structural heightof the compacting press, so that a capacity of about half a cubic meterresults. The compacting press is easy to transport on account of itscompact construction. The desired high pressing density is attained inthat the molding chamber is closed off in the pressing position by aslider sliding in the horizontal direction. The ejection of the pressedpart thus highly compacted in the molding chamber by the press ramitself means that no separate ejection device is needed, so that themanufacturing expense of the compactly structured compacting pressremains low.

In a preferred implementation, the closure slider has one or more drivedogs on its underside, which moves the pressed parts away to the side asthe pressed part container fills and thus provide for complete fillingof the pressed part container. This is effected in advantageous mannerat the same time as the closing/opening movement of the closure slider,so that no special drive is needed. The pressed part container is in theform of a rolling container with up to about half a cubic meter capacityin an advantageous implementation, so that emptying only has to beeffected infrequently, because of the high pressing density and thecomplete filling of the container. Overall a compacting press is thusprovided which is suited especially for uses in offices as a replacementfor file destroyers or shredders, while a plurality of conventionalcutting rollers can advantageously also be provided in the region of thefiling chute or the feed device.

In a preferred implementation moreover, the side inlet opening to themolding chamber is made asymmetric or off-center relative to the pressram axis, so that a turning moment about the upright axis of the pressram is exerted on the press rain during the pressing movement, so thatthis turns and thus wears the cutting edge on the underside of the pressram uniformly. In this way a particularly long lifetime for the cuttingedge on the lower edge of the press ram is achieved, for shearing offthe press material in its transfer from the side inlet opening to themolding chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment will be described and explained in more detail below, withreference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a compacting press;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the compacting press, shown partially insection;

FIG. 3 is a plan view in section on the line 3--3 in FIG. 2; and

FIG.4 is a side view of the compacting press on the line 4--4 in FIG. 2,likewise partially in section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A compacting press 1 is shown schematically in perspective view in FIG.1, wherein the paper to be compacted, for example old file material, isput into a feed chute 2 essentially from above. Conventional cuttingrollers 25 of a shredder can be provided in the lower region of thisfeed chute 2 (cf. FIG. 2), so that the paper to be compacted is cut intostrips. A horizontally disposed feeder device 3 is provided underneaththe feed chute 2, for example a conveyor screw or auger which feeds thepaper material through a side inlet opening 7 into a molding chamber 6,above which are arranged a press cylinder 5 and a press ram 4 moving upand down in the molding chamber 6, as is shown in more detail in FIG. 2.After feeding the paper material through the side inlet 7, the press ram4 is lowered several times by actuating the press cylinder 5, wherebythe paper material is compacted. A lower outlet opening 8 of the moldingchamber 6 is closed for this by a closure slider 9 sliding in thehorizontal direction. The closure slider 9 is guided in a machinedslider guide 10 (cf. also FIG. 4) and driven to and fro by a sliderdriver 11, preferably also by a hydraulic cylinder. The drive iseffected each time after a predetermined press volume has been reached.The closure slider 9 has a slider opening 12 which has a diametercorresponding to or slightly larger than the cross-section of themolding chamber 6. After moving the closure slider 9 into the dischargeposition, the slider opening 12 registers with the outlet opening 8 ofthe molding chamber, so that the pressed part 21 currently pressed inthe molding chamber 6 is pushed out by the downwardly moving press ram 4and can fall down into a pressed part container 20. When the pressedparts 21 pile up in this pressed part container 20 (cf. also FIG. 2),the currently topmost pressed part 21 is moved away to the side by meansof each return stroke of the closure slider 9 and one or more drive dogs13 arranged on the underside, so that complete filling of the pressedpart container 20 is achieved. The mounting of the slider unit iseffected in a slider frame 14, which is preferably flanged on to thehousing of the molding chamber 6, in order to thus achieve reliablesupport for the forces when moving the closure slider 9. This sliderframe 14 is essentially arranged below the region of the feed device 3,whose bottom at the same time forms a cover for the slider frame 14 andcan additionally stiffen it. The feed device 3 is driven by a drivemotor 15, which is also fixed on the side of the slider frame 14 and isin the form of an electric motor in an advantageous implementation,being switched on on demand, e.g., at a predetermined state of fill ofthe filling chute 2.

The press cylinder 5 or press ram 4 is driven by a hydraulic pump 17,which is driven by a drive motor 16. The drive motor 16 and thehydraulic pump 17, which is preferably in the form of an internal gearpump, are preferably surrounded by a sound-absorbing casing, so that thecompacting press 1 operates with little noise. A contribution to this isalso provided if the press cylinder 5 has a pressure transformer 18 atits upper end, connected to the cylinder pump 17 and attached at theside for a small structural height, so that low connection power isneeded. Actuation of the pressure transformer 18 known per se and of theslider drive 11 is effected through a displacement detector 19, which ispreferably arranged in the center of the press cylinder 5 and whichdetects the currently attainable depth of penetration of the press ram4.

A front view of the compacting press 1, shown partially in section, isshown in FIG. 2, wherein the corresponding components described inconjunction with FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. Thecompact construction of the press in particular can be seen from this,especially the small footprint requirement with a pressed part container20 which has a relatively large capacity for the pressed parts 21. Thepressed part container 20 can be pulled out to the front from the frontside of the compacting press 1 facing the viewer (arrow D in FIG. 3), aframe under part 30 being open to the front, so that the pressed partcontainer 20 can easily be taken out of the press unit after beingfilled completely and be emptied, after opening hinged doors 23according to arrow C in FIG. 3, in the way of a rolling container. Theframe under part 30 is preferably built from square tubes, which serveat the same time as an oil reservoir for the hydraulic oil. Above theframe under part 30 is formed the block-form housing 31 for the moldingchamber 6, in which are machined the side inlet 7, the lower outlet 8and the slider guide 10 (cf. FIG. 4). In addition, the slider frame 14is flanged on to the side on this block-form housing 31 and vertical tierods 32 for supporting the press cylinder 5 are fixed on the upper side,by means of fixing bores 33. Small structural expense results from thismodular mode of construction and easy interchangeability when defectsoccur.

The plan view along the section line 3--3 is shown in FIG. 3. As well asthe frame-like formation of the frame under part 30 for reception of thepressed part container 20 with running rollers 22, the massive design ofthe housing 31 for the molding chamber 6 is shown and the slider unitwith the slider frame 14 attached to the side thereof, the slider drive11 mounted thereon and the closure slider 9 actuated thereby, with theslider opening 12. The closure slider 9 is here located in the closedposition for the molding chamber 6. After the pressed material has beenfilled through the side inlet opening 7, the pressure ram 4 moves downinto the molding chamber 6 and thus compacts the pressed material,especially the scrap paper. After a plurality of such press strokes havebeen carried out, the attainable depth of penetration of the press ram 4into the molding chamber 6 becomes ever smaller, which is determined bythe displacement detector 19 for example, but which can be determinedalso by pressure sensors or external measuring systems. Thus, when thepress ram 4 now can only penetrate up to approximately the side inletopening 7 (at the predetermined working pressure), the slider drive 11is actuated, whereby the slider opening 12 is moved to the leftaccording to FIG. 2, so that it comes into register with the loweroutlet opening 8. On the following lowering of the press ram 4, thepressed part 21 formed in the molding chamber 6 is thus pushed down andout of the molding chamber 6. During the following return stroke of theclosure slider 9 the pressed part possibly located in the left region ofthe pressed part container 20 is moved away to the right with thesimultaneous reclosing of the molding chamber 6, so that completefilling of the pressed part container 20 can be achieved.

The corresponding side view of the housing 31 for the molding chamber 6is shown in FIG. 4. The guiding of the closure slider 9 in the sliderguide 10 is in particular apparent from this, as well as the relativelysimple construction. Just as in FIG. 2, the drive dog 13 is shown here,projecting down into the pressed part container 20 and disposed on theunderside of the closure slider 9 and which serves for the sidewaysmoving away and thus the fullest possible filling of the pressed partcontainer 20.

Of particular importance is the asymmetric form of the side inletopening 7, through which the feed device 3 conveys the pressed material,in particular the scrap paper, into the molding chamber 6. Because ofthis off-center, asymmetric design of the side inlet opening, during thedownwards movement of the press ram 4 and thus possibly shearing off ofthe still attached paper strips, a turning moment is exerted on thepress ram 4, so that this turns slightly about its upright axis. Thisensures that the cutting edge 4a formed on the underside of the pressram 4 is turned on through a few degrees about the upright press ramaxis with each press stroke. The lifetime of the cutting edge 4a on theunderside of the press ram 4 is substantially increased by this. Inorder to achieve the rotation of the press ram 4, a suitable bearing 4bis provided at its top end, about which the press ram 4 can turn freely.

However, it is possible to dispense with this rotary bearing 4b, sincethe press piston associated with the press ram 4 can itself turn in thepress cylinder 5. It should be noted that this construction, withstepwise turning of the press ram on account of the asymmetric form ofthe inlet opening is of special, independent significance and cantherefore also be used on other compacting presses.

In connection with FIG. 4, reference is made in particular to the stableattachment of the two side plates (here shown hatched) for forming theslider frame 14, which are flanged on to the massive housing 31 of themolding chamber 6, formed as a block, by a plurality of screws (cf. alsoFIG. 2 along the section line 4--4), so that a particularly stableconstruction results, also the further load-bearing parts, namely thetie rods 32 and slider guide 10 fixed or formed thereon.

The inlet opening 7 asymmetric relative to the central axis of themolding chamber 6 is formed like a cam by the radially widening externalshape compared with a circular shape in the right, lower region, othershapes being possible, e.g., an off-center displacement or an ellipticalshape of the inlet opening 7.

I claim:
 1. A compacting press comprising:a frame having a footprint; afeed chute mounted on the frame for receiving material to be pressed; amolding chamber mounted on the frame; a feed device horizontallyarranged on the frame for transferring the material from the feed chuteto the molding chamber; a press ram for compacting the material in themolding chamber, the press ram being arranged along a vertical axis; acontainer disposed within the footprint of the frame and below themolding chamber for receiving the pressed material; a closure sliderarranged between the molding chamber and the container, the closureslider being reciprocal between a first position closing the moldingchamber from the container and a second position opening the moldingchamber to the container; wherein at least one drive dog is arranged onthe underside of the closure slider and extends into the pressed partcontainer for moving aside the pressed material piling up in the pressedpart container.
 2. A compacting press comprising:a frame having afootprint; a feed chute mounted on the frame for receiving material tobe pressed; a molding chamber mounted on the frame; a feed devicehorizontally arranged on the frame for transferring the material fromthe feed chute to the molding chamber; a press ram for compacting thematerial in the molding chamber, the press ram being arranged along avertical axis; a container disposed within the footprint of the frameand below the molding chamber for receiving the pressed material; aclosure slider arranged between the molding chamber and the container,the closure slider being reciprocal between a first position closing themolding chamber from the container and a second position opening themolding chamber to the container, wherein the lower part of the frame isin the form of a tubular construction, which is open to one side facefor pulling out the container.
 3. A compacting press according to claim2, further including hydraulics for driving the press ram, wherein thelower part of the frame is formed as a hydraulic oil container for thepress hydraulics.
 4. A compacting press comprising:a frame having afootprint; a feed chute mounted on the frame for receiving material tobe pressed; a molding chamber mounted on the frame; a feed devicehorizontally arranged on the frame for transferring the material fromthe feed chute to the molding chamber; a press ram for compacting thematerial in the molding chamber, the press ram being arranged along avertical axis; a container disposed within the footprint of the frameand below the molding chamber for receiving the pressed material; aclosure slider arranged between the molding chamber and the container,the closure slider being reciprocal between a first position closing themolding chamber from the container and a second position opening themolding chamber to the container; and a housing forming the moldingchamber and a vertical press cylinder for the press ram havingsupporting tie rods fixed on the housing.
 5. A compacting presscomprising:a frame having a footprint; a feed chute mounted on the framefor receiving material to be pressed; a molding chamber mounted on theframe; a feed device horizontally arranged on the frame for transferringthe material from the feed chute to the molding chamber; a press ram forcompacting the material in the molding chamber, the press ram beingarranged along a vertical axis and arranged to rotate freely about itsupright axis on a bearing; a container disposed within the footprint ofthe frame and below the molding chamber for receiving the pressedmaterial; a closure slider arranged between the molding chamber and thecontainer, the closure slider being reciprocal between a first positionclosing the molding chamber from the container and a second positionopening the molding chamber to the container.
 6. A compacting presscomprising:a frame having a footprint; a feed chute mounted on the framefor receiving material to be pressed; a molding chamber mounted on theframe; a feed device horizontally arranged on the frame for transferringthe material from the feed chute to the molding chamber; a press ram forcompacting the material in the molding chamber, the press ram beingarranged alone a vertical axis; a container disposed within thefootprint of the frame and below the molding chamber for receiving thepressed material; a closure slider arranged between the molding chamberand the container, the closure slider being reciprocal between a firstposition closing the molding chamber from the container and a secondposition opening the molding chamber to the container; and an inletopening from the feed chute to the molding chamber formed asymmetricallywith respect to a plane through the axis of the press ram.
 7. Acompacting press according to claim 6, wherein the inlet opening islocated off-center with respect to the plane through the axis of thepress ram.
 8. A compacting press according to claim 6, wherein the inletopening has a cam shape.
 9. A compacting press comprising:a frame havinga footprint; a feed chute mounted on the frame for receiving material tobe pressed; a molding chamber mounted on the frame; a feed devicehorizontally arranged on the frame for transferring the material fromthe feed chute to the molding chamber; a press ram for compacting thematerial in the molding chamber, the press ram being arranged along avertical axis; a container disposed within the footprint of the frameand below the molding chamber for receiving the pressed material; aclosure slider arranged between the molding chamber and the container,the closure slider being reciprocal between a first position closing themolding chamber from the container and a second position opening themolding chamber to the container; and rollers provided on the containerfor portability.
 10. A compacting press for compacting material,comprising:a frame; a feed chute mounted on the frame for receivingmaterial to be pressed; a molding chamber mounted on the frame; amovable closure forming a wall of the molding chamber; an inlet openingfrom the feed chute to the molding chamber allowing transfer of materialfrom the feed chute to the molding chamber; and a press ram reciprocalalong an axis and sized to fit closely within the molding chamber forcompacting the material transferred therein against the movable closure,the press ram having a cutting edge for shearing the material extendingthrough the inlet opening, the inlet opening being formed asymmetricallywith respect to a plane through the axis of the press ram so thatshearing contact between the cutting edge and the material extendingthrough the inlet opening induces a turning moment on the press ramcutting edge.
 11. A compacting press according to claim 10, furtherincludinga feed device mounted on the frame for transferring thematerial from the feed chute through the inlet opening to the moldingchamber.
 12. A compacting press according to claim 11, furtherincludinga shredder mounted in the feed chute for cutting the materialinto strips before reaching the feed device.
 13. A compacting pressaccording to claim 11, wherein the feed device is a screw-type feedhorizontally disposed in a lower portion of the feed chute, and thepress ram and molding chamber are arranged vertically and perpendicularto the feed device.
 14. A compacting press according to claim 10,wherein the inlet opening is located off-center with respect to theplane through the axis of the press ram.
 15. A compacting pressaccording to claim 14, wherein the inlet opening has a cam shape.
 16. Acompacting press according to claim 10, further including:a bearingallowing the press ram to rotate freely about its axis.
 17. A compactingpress according to claim 10, further including:a container disposedbelow the molding chamber for receiving and storing the pressedmaterial.
 18. A compacting press according to claim 17, wherein thepress ram and molding chamber are arranged vertically, and the movableclosure is located between the molding chamber and the container, themovable closure being reciprocal between a first position closing themolding chamber from the container and a second position opening themolding chamber to the container.
 19. A compacting press according toclaim 18, further including:a lower extension of the movable closure fordistributing pressed material in the container upon reciprocal motion ofthe movable closure.
 20. An office compacting press for compacting wastematerial, comprising:a frame having a footprint; a feed chute mounted onthe frame for receiving material to be pressed; a molding chambermounted on the frame adjacent the feed chute for molding material intopressed parts; a closure for the molding chamber; a press ram reciprocalalong an axis and sized to fit closely within the molding chamber forcompacting the material transferred therein against the closure; anopening from the feed chute to the molding chamber, the openingincluding means asymmetrically formed with respect to a plane throughthe axis of the press ram for transferring material into the moldingchamber; and a cutting edge on the press ram for shearing the materialextending through the opening wherein the asymmetric means transfersmaterial into the molding chamber in a way to cause the press ram torotate about its axis upon contact between the press ram and transferredmaterial.
 21. A compacting press as in claim 20 further comprising:afeeder for feeding the material from the feed chute to the opening; anda container disposed within the footprint of the frame and below themolding chamber for receiving the pressed parts, and wherein the closureis located between the molding chamber and the container, the closurebeing reciprocal between a first position closing the molding chamberfrom the container and a second position opening the molding chamber tothe container.
 22. A compacting press for compacting material,comprising:a frame; a feed chute mounted on the frame for receivingmaterial to be pressed; a molding chamber mounted on the frame along afirst axis adjacent the feed chute; a closure mounted to reciprocallymove in the frame and forming a lower wall of the molding chamber; aninlet opening from the feed chute to the molding chamber to transfermaterial from the feed chute to the molding chamber along a second axisgenerally perpendicular to said first axis, the inlet opening beingformed asymmetrically with respect to a plane formed by the first axisand parallel or intersecting the second axis; and a press ram reciprocalin the molding chamber along, and rotatable about, the first axis forcompacting the material transferred into the molding chamber against theclosure, the press ram having a lower cutting edge in a plane normal tothe first axis for shearing the material extending through the inletopening.
 23. A compacting press as in claim 22, further including:abearing allowing the press ram to rotate freely about its axis so thatshearing contact between the cutting edge and the material extendingthrough the inlet opening induces a turning moment on the press ramcutting edge.
 24. A press for compacting paper based material,comprising:a molding chamber having sides, with an outlet located alonga central axis of the chamber, and an inlet opening in the side of thechamber asymmetrically formed with respect to the central axis throughwhich paper based material enters the chamber; a closure at the outletto selectively close the chamber outlet; a feed device providing paperbased material to the chamber through the inlet opening; a ramreciprocating within the molding chamber along the central axis and pastthe inlet opening to compress paper based material in the chamber whenthe outlet is closed, the ram having a cutting edge mounted to rotateabout the central axis and cooperating with the inlet opening to cut thepaper based material and rotate the cutting edge as the ram moves thecutting edge past the inlet opening.
 25. A compacting press as definedin claim 24, wherein the closure comprises a slider movable orthogonalto the central axis.
 26. A compacting press as defined in claim 24,wherein the feed device comprises a feed mechanism to force paper basedmaterial into the chamber.
 27. A compacting press as defined in claim26, further comprising a device communicating with the feed mechanism toreduce the size of the paper based material.
 28. A compacting press asdefined in claim 24, wherein the compacting press has a footprint, andfurther comprising a container below the outlet to receive compressedpaper based material when the outlet closure is not closing the chamber,the container being within the footprint of the press.